Tall as an Oak Tree

This series of photos analyzes what it means to be a woman and survivor of sexual violence.

When I was young, I was often told to stand tall, tall as an oak tree. Like many at a young age, I was already surrounded, and influenced by, imagery of women shown as standing straight, and elegant.

But I stood with my shoulders hunched.

Tall as an Oak Tree is an exploration of self and of living with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from sexual violence combined with the social standards placed on women. Combining self-portraits and landscape photographs, this series is a visual journey of my own reconciliation with the side effects that stem from these realizations and understandings of myself and my world.

After I was diagnosed with PTSD in the months following the beginning of the Me Too movement in 2017, I felt the need to convey not only the widely-held beliefs seen of resilience and my own feelings of eventual emancipation, while giving weight to the many times that I navigated destructive and isolating thoughts and emotions. These, I felt then, were to be faced alone, hidden from the stigma that still exists.

It is my hope that this series assists those who carry their own, perhaps similar, experiences, so that they too may find that they have a voice and that voice matters.